The baseball universe is a big place, perhaps the biggest.
Trout isn’t merely the clear favorite to win AL Rookie of the Year — with apologies to Yu Darvish, Will Middlebrooks and Tom Milone. And he’s more than an increasingly safe bet to make the All-Star team. Trout has reshaped the race in one of baseball’s most competitive divisions, in a style just as breathtaking as the last player to pull off the MVP/ROY combo: Ichiro Suzuki. “What he’s doing for us right now,” one Angels official said Thursday, “is stunning.”
Seriously, is there a better choice as AL MVP right now? Paul Konerko might have the next-best case, given his .958 OPS for the division-leading Chicago White Sox, but he can’t match Trout’s contributions on defense and the basepaths. Josh Hamilton, although a perpetual candidate, is having a poor June.
Meanwhile, Trout’s statistics — like Trout himself — are a historic blur. He leads the AL with a .345 batting average — something only two rookies (Ichiro in 2001, Tony Oliva in 1964) have done over a full season in the modern era, according to STATS LLC.
With 48 runs scored, Trout is averaging nearly one per game, which is almost unheard of. He could finish the year as the major league leader in runs, despite missing the season’s first month. The same goes for stolen bases; he already ranks third in that category, with 21.
Repoz
Posted: June 29, 2012 at 06:25 AM |
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1. NJ in NY Posted: June 29, 2012 at 07:59 AM (#4169248)Agreed. That play was Endy Chavez-esque.
Trout, likewise, is riding a .400 BABIP. I wouldn't be at all surprised if someone with his foot- and bat speed is more than capable of .330 BABIP, but no one hits .400 on balls in the play. Of course, if Trout could perform at his current level for the rest of the second half, he'd walk away with the MVP. With a more normal BABIP, he's merely going to be in the conversation as a 20-year-old rookie. Jesus he's good.
.197 ISO as a 20 year old so far. Wow.
The catch this kid made on Wednesday to rob J.J. Hardy of a home run was the best defensive play I've seen so far this year. He is incredible.
The replays were insane. It happens so quickly in real time, but when they slow it down and you see how far he jumps, how far over the wall his arm was, it is even more jaw dropping.
And it's even better in gif form.
Not as a matter of established level, no. But over a full season they do from time to time. Trout seems like an excellent candidate to be able to pull it off.
my one grandson hung in there and is now second in a 14 team league after being last/next to last the first month and a half.
i don't know if that's all mike trout because i still don't understand all the nuances of fantasy baseball but i am glad i helped
i also told them to get logan morrison. that didn't turn out quite as well.
Agreed. In AAA this year Trout had a BABIP of .476. He hits a lot line drives and groundballs and is insanely fast. If Jose Hernandez can have a BABIP of .400 in a season, Mike Trout sure as heck can make a run at it. And if you knock it down to .390, it's something that happens a little less than once a season over the last decade.
My favorite part of the replay was the players' reactions. Trout seemed as shocked and thrilled that he caught the ball as anybody and right at the end of the replay I saw they showed the pitcher tipping his cap to him.
but he does have power and uses all fields you can tell that the defense is in a quandry. if you tighten up you give up reaction time/angles. if you play normal and he hits a ground ball he can beat it out. and in the same game i have seen him homer and then bloop one with the outfielder playing back rushing in desperately to catch it
yes i am gushing. he's a delight
It seemed to me that he looked back to watch the replay on the scoreboard as he was jogging back to the infield.
I'm looking forward to having Trout and Harper as two of my three keepers on my fantasy team for the next 15 years or so.
been done 14 times
Interesting list. 13 Hall of Famers and... Jose Hernandez.
Except for the last ~50 PAs last season, Trout's basically never struggled. Oh, sure, he'll have a bagel game here or there, but as a package he's just so, so, SO good, I don't have the words to describe him. I'm just grateful he's on the team I root for right now.
I should have noted that it's been done 14 times by 13 different players (Cobb did it twice).
Mantle, age 20: .311/.394/.530/.924/162 OPS+
Trout, age 20: .345/.402/.543/.944/164
And, of course, mantle tore up his knee the year before, so it's possible he would have stolen more bases as a 20 year old.
I'm going with Eric Davis, still. I don't care what the old people say. That catch is straight Eric Davis. And he's probably going to lead the league in SBs, which I guess Mays actually did and Davis never did, but still feels more like a Davis thing to me.
I wish I could find a good video of Trout's infield single last year against Texas when he beat out what just a tad tougher than routine grounder to Elvis Andrus. The look on Andrus' face was priceless. He just couldn't believe the kid had beat it out.
Except that Davis was 25 years old when he was doing this kind of stunning stuff. Trout's still got the Mays ceiling, which Davis didn't realistically have.
I remembe the following guys as being tagged as 'The Next Mays' Bobby Bonds, Andre Dawson, Eric Davis(briefly), Ken Griffey, Jr. Who else?
I especially like the thought of a 22 year old Andrus thinking of another player as a kid.
And like #27 notes, he's 20.
Barry, of course. Andruw Jones.
Trout's improving contact rate is just another non-obvious thing that makes him so incredibly special. That and his ISO and his SB rate and his ability to scale tall walls in a single bound.
And like #27 notes, he's 20.
I wasn't suggesting their careers would be similar. Just the freak level of athleticism, at a time when the game is loaded with athleticism. Trout is ahead of everyone except Mantle at this point at the plate, he might be a better defender and Mantle didn't run as much. So if we compare Trout to the other guys at 20, he looks like he's going to be the first Trout, which is awesome.
If we had to pick a guy, Mays seems like the best comp to me because of the SBs. It will be interesting if Trout ever becomes a guy who competes for HR crowns.
And honestly, in a way it would be a shame if he followed with Mantle-type production, with all the walks and homeruns. That's the direction that Bryce Harper is going to go. I want to see Trout winning batting titles with 200 hits, 50 doubles, 20 triples. I want him to lead the league in SLG with less than 30 homeruns. Adding in the 50 steals and GG defense probably makes him one of a kind, right? Maybe Ty Cobb?
I guess Craig Biggio was putting up numbers like that for a bit. "Craig Biggio" sounds like a kind of lame ceiling but the dude did score 146 runs in the Astrodome.
That's my understanding.
Oliva's 1964 OPS+: 150
Ichiro's 2001 OPS+: 126
One of those certainly doesn't look like the other 2.
Uh, make that 12 different players. Hornsby did it twice, too.
Manny Ramirez isn't a HOF player. He's a steroid cheater...ok, I can't say that with a straight face.
Many members of the BBWAA, however, can and will.
And Raines' speed maybe, but Rock on his best day could never play outfield like Trout. I mean, please feel free to post a few clips of Raines elevating four feet over the outfield wall. Trout's athleticism is, as noted, a better comp for Eric Davis.
It looks you are trying to temper the wild enthusiasm here, Ray Diperna style. Which is no fun at all.
The Angels have had two star OFs with fish surnames in ten years. I can't deal with this.
The Angels have had two star OFs with fish surnames in ten years. I can't deal with this.
Not to mention a (Benji) Gil.
It't the new market inefficiency.
Part of me thinks he might have the Eddie Mathews arc, with a really early peak. Partially because I'm not sure what "better" would look like here.
'Trout is a lot like Frank Robinson...except Frank Robinson couldn't run.'
Robby stole over 200 bases in his career and averaged about 20 a year until his late 20's.
Mathews peaked early, but it's not like he fell off very far. He didn't have another 170 OPS+ after turning 24, but he was at 137 or better in 7 of the next 8 years, and 154 or better in 4 of the next 6.
So... congratulations on that, Eddie Mathews, and possibly also Angels fans.
I'm an Angels fan! We're superstitious! (See: Ed Kirkpatrick, Rick Reichardt, Bobby Valentine, Danny Goodwin, Brian Harper, Dickie Thon, Tom Brunansky, Dick Schofield, Casey Kotchman, Brandon Wood.) Can't-miss young fee-noms either suffer bizarre misfortunes, get traded for scrap, show up mysteriously DOA, grind out mediocre careers, or most of the above.
Dallas McPherson was such a bust, he didn't even make this list.
Trout or Harper?
See, he was an old 30.
Hey hitters..it's been tried.
IT DOESN'T WORK.
Trout.
nevermind.
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